What I don't understand is why a HOA would want to dictate the slope of your roof.,...
Post your HOA horror stories here
- Thread starter Donald
- Start date
So my story is we moved from a house on 26 wooded acres to a house on a little less than an acre and my Neopolitan Mastiff has upon occasion started howling at first light. For the nighttime the dog stays in a crate in the garage. He is not a puppy but still chews plugs, car batteries, cardboard. If I hear him I get up and take him out. Of course sometimes he sees another dog outside and barks at that dog.
Neighbor has complained to the HOA board and said he may contact the police. The laws in this state are pretty lame with respect to dig barking.
Apparently the same neighbor has complained about other people and their dogs. I guess it was my turn.
I am working with him on howling less (training).
Neighbor has complained to the HOA board and said he may contact the police. The laws in this state are pretty lame with respect to dig barking.
Apparently the same neighbor has complained about other people and their dogs. I guess it was my turn.
I am working with him on howling less (training).
I feel like that’s what it should be. Maybe an extra meeting or two, but it sounds like all is good.
In which case, the issue is between you and the neighbor. Nobody else, certainly not some coalition of Karens who have nothing to do with the dispute.
I had this issue last year, actually. A guy down the road taped a nasty letter on my mailbox citing something about inoperable vehicles on property and how I should have respect for myself if I won't for others. It was referring to my Camaro drag car, (operable and street legal) and he'd made mention of it to other neighbors as well. Starting the next day, I started that car up once a week to drive it down the road in front his house, open headers, the sweet smell of VP C9 fuel, slicks and skinnies, etc... I'd idle past his house, rev it to 7k, go turn around, rev it to 7k again when passing his house, and then quickly get home before it overheats from not having a radiator. After the 3rd week, he came to my house and yelled at me in person. I told him I'd stop driving it by his house if he apologized for the letter and never spoke of this again. He refused, and tacked on a complaint about my wife's lawn flamingo. The drive-bys were increased to 2x per week and by the end of the next week, we put up >40 lawn flamingos in our front yard. My wife attached protest signs to some of the flamingos that read "Stop the hate!" and "Equal rights for Flamingos!" Most of this little town thought it was hilarious. It became became a followed thing in the local FB group and some other hot rodders even came out to join me in the drive-bys. The guy finally gave in, but sent his wife to our house to apologize and ask us to stop. I stopped out of respect for her, not for him.
Now if someone comes to me with a reasonable complaint, in a polite manner, I will discuss it with them and find a solution. I can be flexible given the right terms. I have a powerful solar light out front that shines on my flag. A week or so after putting it out there, a neighbor came by and asked if I could shift the light a little as it was reflecting off a panel on my shop and directing a beam through the woodline into his living room window. Oops, sorry bud. I went out there and moved the light over a few feet. No big deal.
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I have no firsthand stories because I purposely bought into a non-HOA area but I have a few stories from my coworkers.
1. Navy vet wanted a flag pole installed in his front lawn. He went through all the proper channels and even got the HOA to sign off on it. He started flying the American flag along with the Navy flag. His newly immigrated neighbor from the Middle East asked him to take down his flags because the American flag made her uncomfortable because it represented “the oppressors”. He declined and cited VA law that protects the flying if of the American flag. She complained to the HOA who also denied her. She waited a few years and eventually took over as President of the HOA. She then had surveyors out who determined that the base of his flagpole was not compliant with the designs that were originally submitted to the HOA because it was misplaced by .75”. He was forced to remove his flagpole and the HOA declined his requests to install a new flag pole. The story did have a happy ending though. My colleague took advantage of VA’s open-carry laws and made the HOA President “very uncomfortable” to the point where she resigned. He took over as President of the HOA and he got his flagpole back.
2. Semi-retired colleague had a classic 56 or 57 Chevy Belair. He go a fine for doing “vehicle maintenance” in his driveway for just washing and waxing the car.
3. One of my best friends got screwed out of $10K by his HOA because they forced him to install a new asphalt driveway. His neighbor’s driveway had fallen into disrepair they replaced it. My friends driveway was in very good to excellent condition but was adjacent to the newly replaced driveway. The HOA determined that because one person replaced his driveway, everyone on the cul-de-sac needed to replaced theres as to keep up appearances. The homeowners were only allowed to use one of two “approved” companies, one of which was the brother-in-law of a HOA board member. The one non-BIL owned company quoted $25K for this simple, 50’x14’ driveway while the one owned by the BIL quoted $14,000. My friend got three non-approved quotes that were all in the $3-5K range. He appealed to the HOA board for approval to use one of the lower cost vendors but was denied. So he ended up having to pay $14K for something that he could have gotten for $4K, and to top that off, he didn’t even really need to buy it.
1. Navy vet wanted a flag pole installed in his front lawn. He went through all the proper channels and even got the HOA to sign off on it. He started flying the American flag along with the Navy flag. His newly immigrated neighbor from the Middle East asked him to take down his flags because the American flag made her uncomfortable because it represented “the oppressors”. He declined and cited VA law that protects the flying if of the American flag. She complained to the HOA who also denied her. She waited a few years and eventually took over as President of the HOA. She then had surveyors out who determined that the base of his flagpole was not compliant with the designs that were originally submitted to the HOA because it was misplaced by .75”. He was forced to remove his flagpole and the HOA declined his requests to install a new flag pole. The story did have a happy ending though. My colleague took advantage of VA’s open-carry laws and made the HOA President “very uncomfortable” to the point where she resigned. He took over as President of the HOA and he got his flagpole back.
2. Semi-retired colleague had a classic 56 or 57 Chevy Belair. He go a fine for doing “vehicle maintenance” in his driveway for just washing and waxing the car.
3. One of my best friends got screwed out of $10K by his HOA because they forced him to install a new asphalt driveway. His neighbor’s driveway had fallen into disrepair they replaced it. My friends driveway was in very good to excellent condition but was adjacent to the newly replaced driveway. The HOA determined that because one person replaced his driveway, everyone on the cul-de-sac needed to replaced theres as to keep up appearances. The homeowners were only allowed to use one of two “approved” companies, one of which was the brother-in-law of a HOA board member. The one non-BIL owned company quoted $25K for this simple, 50’x14’ driveway while the one owned by the BIL quoted $14,000. My friend got three non-approved quotes that were all in the $3-5K range. He appealed to the HOA board for approval to use one of the lower cost vendors but was denied. So he ended up having to pay $14K for something that he could have gotten for $4K, and to top that off, he didn’t even really need to buy it.
No problem with my HOA. Neighborhood would look like a gypsy encampment without it. No barking dogs, no clanging flag poles on a windy day, no RVS sitting in in driveways 51 weeks a year. Wanna paint your front door canary yellow?, paint the inside so you can look at it all day. Like wind chimes?, hang one in your living room and point a fan at it. If I don’t have to see it or hear it I’m all for it.
Only 12 lots in my neighborhood and 5 of those aren’t even in the neighborhood but on the road leading to it and they pay HOA dues. Our HOA covers common ground mowing, streetlights, snow removal, landscaping and irrigation at the entrance and that’s about it. $1,500 a year but we will probably reduce that once we get a decent capital reserve built up.
I don’t have any issues with living in an HOA neighborhood. I like my house and my neighbors’ to look nice and not have a bunch of junk sitting in front of their homes.
I don’t have any issues with living in an HOA neighborhood. I like my house and my neighbors’ to look nice and not have a bunch of junk sitting in front of their homes.
I've lived in the same neighborhood with an HOA for 21 years. I am in my second year on the board of directors, long story but the incompetence of the previous board finally got to be too much that we staged a coup of sorts.
About 850 homes, including single family, townhouse, and some condos, streets and sidewalks, a pool, landscaping, etc. Yes we do send violations for messy lawns/landscaping, exterior maintenance, not using a trashcan, leaving your trashcan outside all the time, etc. The previous board never did this sort of thing and the place was going to crap. It's like the broken windows theory in policing.
We have received almost universal praise for how we've turned the community around, including our direct responsibilities of maintaining and improving the property, updating the reserve accounts, and the enforcement of property maintenance rules. The only complainers are people who think they're special or got used to not having to follow the rules they signed up for when they bought a home here.
This idea that an HOA exists to "take" people's money is silly. Around here that money pays for the trash pickup, snow plowing, landscaping, the pool, the electricity for the street lights, paving the roads, fixing the sidewalks, etc.
jeff
About 850 homes, including single family, townhouse, and some condos, streets and sidewalks, a pool, landscaping, etc. Yes we do send violations for messy lawns/landscaping, exterior maintenance, not using a trashcan, leaving your trashcan outside all the time, etc. The previous board never did this sort of thing and the place was going to crap. It's like the broken windows theory in policing.
We have received almost universal praise for how we've turned the community around, including our direct responsibilities of maintaining and improving the property, updating the reserve accounts, and the enforcement of property maintenance rules. The only complainers are people who think they're special or got used to not having to follow the rules they signed up for when they bought a home here.
This idea that an HOA exists to "take" people's money is silly. Around here that money pays for the trash pickup, snow plowing, landscaping, the pool, the electricity for the street lights, paving the roads, fixing the sidewalks, etc.
jeff
No HOA for me either, no one is telling me what I can or cannot do with my house, frig them and the horse they rode in on. I have good neighbors, one is a local police chief who is always working on something at night and the other is an alcoholic who has no idea whats going on.
One time I was welding outside late at night and the next day he asked me if I saw that wicked lightning storm, said it scared the crap out of him.
One time I was welding outside late at night and the next day he asked me if I saw that wicked lightning storm, said it scared the crap out of him.
No. Just NO.
15+ years of that ****.
We could not not handle it and never again. So glad to move!!
Lots of stories. DST now gonna eat breakfast in peace,
15+ years of that ****.
We could not not handle it and never again. So glad to move!!
Lots of stories. DST now gonna eat breakfast in peace,
Zee09
$200 Site Donor 2023
- Joined
- May 5, 2018
- Messages
- 20,923
I love the HOA lifestyle.
I drove to Florida where I had a 12 acre lot with 3 ponds. They call them lakes
While I was walking my property I took an ancient Crosman 160 co2 gun to plink with.
All my property was heavily wooded backed up by a 300 acre farm.
As I walked several neighbors kept riding up and down the road looking at the man with the pellet gun. I got the jist of it real quick.
A week later when I got home to MD. I started getting offers from the neighbors to sell. I loved the property but when we got near to 3x what I paid for it just 17 months ago I gave in and they even paid all the settlement fees.
Yeah I sold out but the few that lived there weren't my cup of tea...
The joke is that front entrance property was for sale for over 10 years until I came along..
I drove to Florida where I had a 12 acre lot with 3 ponds. They call them lakes
While I was walking my property I took an ancient Crosman 160 co2 gun to plink with.
All my property was heavily wooded backed up by a 300 acre farm.
As I walked several neighbors kept riding up and down the road looking at the man with the pellet gun. I got the jist of it real quick.
A week later when I got home to MD. I started getting offers from the neighbors to sell. I loved the property but when we got near to 3x what I paid for it just 17 months ago I gave in and they even paid all the settlement fees.
Yeah I sold out but the few that lived there weren't my cup of tea...
The joke is that front entrance property was for sale for over 10 years until I came along..
You guessed correctly.
AZjeff
$50 Site Donor 2023
As I said an attempt was made to discuss the barking and it went nowhere and he got nasty quickly. What should I do, poison the dog? I'm surprised he didn't take your attitude and get a pack of barking dogs and make me apologize. I'm older but in my best days would never have done something like you did, not my nature.
I heard about an HOA in Fairfax County (EDIT: Virginia, just outside Our Nations Capital) where one of the townhouse homeowners replaced their wood garage door with a metal one.
They almost got into a fistfight at the HOA meeting about it.
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- Joined
- Dec 4, 2021
- Messages
- 805
Wow, some real horror stories. And huge HOAs! Honestly don't know if I've ever even seen a neighborhood with 850 homes in it. Here in New England the most you'd ever really see is 50 or 60 houses in a development.
I think the gist of what I'm seeing here is that you need to be compatible with your neighbors, regardless of whether you have an HOA or not. I can honestly say that I would not be compatible with some of the other lifestyles described in this thread.
I think the gist of what I'm seeing here is that you need to be compatible with your neighbors, regardless of whether you have an HOA or not. I can honestly say that I would not be compatible with some of the other lifestyles described in this thread.
My solution to your situation is living in a rural area where my nearest neighbor is a 1/4-mile away, not a 1/4-acre.
I hope you can let him be in the house with the family. Mine sleeps on the bed, loves it obviously, but even a doggie bed somewhere inside they feel like they are with their family.
